Zoo in Space 2: Return to Orbit
by Alex Derus
Summary: A year after Alex's return from Mars, the orbiting zoo has been rebuilt. Another stay for them is planned, and with other animals.
1. Two Proposals

A year had passed since Alex had returned from his lengthy trip to and from Mars. He and Lea were doing their first performance of the day on Valentine's Day. Marty, as the performance was going on, had noticed that Alex had something in his pen. After the performance, Marty went to his lion friend and asked "Alex, what have you got here?" Alex glanced over at Lea, whom was having a chat with Gloria and Melman, and said "well, it's Valentine's Day, and I figured that I'd give her the most romantic gift any male could give his girlfriend. I'm planning on popping the big question." Marty was really getting excited. "6:00 this evening, I'll do this over dinner" Alex stated. Marty replied "I can't wait."

Meanwhile, at NASA, the shuttles had long since been retired, and the zoo completely rebuilt. A letter was being sent out to Alex and his friends requesting they try another week stay in the improved zoo. They would be informed of other animals that would be staying with them. After completing the letter, a supervisor asked "don't you think we ought to let that lion get settled in first? I mean he _did_ have one heck of a long trip—to and from Mars." The typist replied "I'll wait a few months to send them out. In the meantime, we need our other occupants, including this python you specified named Kaa." The supervisor replied "oh, yeah."

That evening, at the Central Park Zoo, Alex and his friends were dining together for the Valentine's Day feast. "This is the greatest Valentine's Day ever" Lea said, "I don't know how it could possibly get any better." Alex said "well, I've got a little something for you, Lea." Lea turned to Alex, took a sip of tea, and asked "like what?" Alex said "close your eyes, Lea." Lea closed her eyes, and Alex got the ring box. He knelt down on one knee and said "Lea these past two years together has been the best I've ever known." Lea said "well, they've been the best for me, too, albeit the majority of them were taken up by your unplanned trip to and from Mars." Alex replied "well, still, they were the best. You can open your eyes, now." Gloria and Melman saw the ring box he was holding. Gloria asked "Melman, is he going to do what I think he's going to do?" Melman, getting excited, replied "I think so." Lea opened her eyes, and Alex opened the ring box. "Lea, will you marry me?" he asked. Lea was truly excited. "Yes, Alex, I will" she replied. As Alex put the ring on, everyone else was applauding.

* * *

Some three weeks later, Alex and his friends received correspondence from NASA. Alex read the letter they had gotten. "Dear Alex, Marty, Melman, Lea, and Gloria. We would like to invite you to try another week stay in our newly rebuilt orbiting zoo. This time, there will be others staying with you. Please get back to us as soon as possible. I trust you still know the e-mail address. Sincerely, Michael D. Griffin, Administrator." Gloria replied "Alex, you can tell them about you and Lea getting married. That may be a nice way to have a wedding like no other: in orbit." Lea beamed at the idea with "that'll be so romantic. We could have closed-circuit TV coverage for our families on the ground, unless NASA is willing to get them into orbit as well." Alex replied "well, I'll e-mail NASA the idea and see."


	2. An Exotic Wedding Spot & a New Shuttle

After e-mailing NASA back, Alex and Lea prepped some wedding invitations. They were almost finished when Alex received a text on his phone. The text, from NASA, said that the families could, in fact, be sent into orbit with them for this unique wedding. Alex thought "yes, we'll all be able to be there." He completed the invitations and he sent out a carrier pigeon. "This is for Zuba and Florrie of mainland Africa" he said. The pigeon replied "okay, Alex, I won't let you down." Lea asked "who are Zuba and Florrie?" Alex replied "my parents. I was originally called Alakay, but I kind of prefer the name Alex." Lea then mailed her invitations to her parents, who lived at the Inokashira Park Zoo in Tokyo. With the help of Alex's linguistic abilities, she was able to make the Japanese characters for the address correctly, while also having the English text of it on the envelope. She then sent some to her friends back at the London zoo. With that, the invitations were all mailed out.

* * *

Out on the plains of Africa, Zuba was overseeing the preparations for the next coming-of-age challenge when he saw a pigeon making its way down. "What the heck" Zuba thought. The pigeon landed and said "I have a message for a Mr. Zuba and a Miss Florrie." Florrie, Alex's mother, came forward and said "I'm Florrie." After signing for the envelope, Florrie tipped the pigeon and sent him on his way. "Zuba, get your butt over here!" she then shouted. Zuba asked "what is it, Florrie?" Florrie replied "Alakay sent us a message." They opened it and found a wedding invitation. "How about that" Zuba beamed, "Alakay is getting married." Florrie replied "I'm sure he's with a wonderful girl." Zuba looked at the letter and muttered "hang on; if he lives at the Central Park Zoo in New York, why does he want us to meet up with him at this…Cape Canaveral…place?" Florrie replied "beats me, but we'd better follow these instructions."

* * *

At a zoo in the suburbs of Tokyo, Lea's parents were approached by a mail carrier. The mail man pointed at Lea's parents and asked them something in Japanese. Winston, Lea's father, said "I…don't speak Japanese." The mail man replied "oh, my apologies, good sir. Are you Winston? I have this envelope that came from the United States that is addressed to-." Winston said "yeah, that's me." The postman handed the envelope to him as he said "Ginger, wake up." Ginger, Lea's mother, awoke and asked "what is it, Winston?" Winston opened the envelope and said "Lea has written us." The two looked at the contents and were overjoyed at the wedding invitation. "She's actually marrying _the_ Alex from the United States" Ginger beamed. Winston replied "looks like it. We'd better start packing." Ginger said "I thought they lived in New York." Winston replied "exactly." Ginger asked "then, why does she want us to meet her at Cape Canaveral?"

* * *

Some days later, Alex received correspondence that everyone invited was able to attend; even Lea's friends from London. Alex and everyone packed up and got ready to head down to Cape Canaveral in Florida. Alex said "okay, everyone ready to go?" They all agreed and got into the limo that whisked them to a plane that was waiting at John F. Kennedy airport. After a short flight down to Florida, they finally arrived at Cape Canaveral. There, they were meeting what looked like a convoy of other chartered passenger planes: one from British Airways (carrying Lea's zoo friends), another from JAL (carrying Lea's parents), and a third from FedEx (carrying Alex's parents), among others. Soon after, all the zoo invitees were ready. They were all whisked to the launch pad where they gazed upon the new Shuttle 2.0, a next-gen model improvement over the retired space shuttles Discovery, Atlantis, and Endeavour. The NASA official driving the vehicle said that this new shuttle actually has an internal fuel tank, as opposed to its predecessor's external tank. The SRBs on this shuttle could now retract into the belly like landing gear. The heat shield, instead of being made up of individual tiles, was now one immense molded piece of the same material, reinforced by increased thickness. The only separations were for landing gear doors and launching gear doors (for the retractable SRBs). Alex muttered "oh wow, that's amazing." Zuba said "well, Alakay, I was wondering why you wanted us to meet you down here. So, where is this zoo you're staying at?" Alex replied "look up." Zuba and Florrie did so as Florrie said "okay." Alex said "given strong enough binoculars, you'd be looking right at it." Ginger said "wait, this is an orbiting zoo?" Winston replied "sounds like it. Also, look at that newer shuttle; larger, sleeker, and more self-contained than its predecessors."

The van they were in soon arrived at the launch pad as the driver said "behold the new Space Shuttle Voyager." Everyone was then escorted into a large elevator that took them up to the forward door of the shuttle. Upon getting in, the commander greeted them with "welcome aboard. In a few moments, this newer shuttle will whisk you all to a stay at our much-improved orbiting zoo. But, we have word of another special moment with us. During this week's stay, we are glad to have the honor of hosting a special wedding between Mr. Alex and Miss Lea." Alex and Lea waved as everyone else applauded. Lea said "this is so exciting."


End file.
